Athens: Nearly 50 Bangladeshi migrant workers evacuated by sea from Libya to the Greek island of Crete jumped ship during the night, Greek authorities said Sunday, leaving three dead, 14 missing and many others hospitalized.
Nearly a dozen Greek Coast Guard and Navy vessels, a military helicopter and fishing boats were scouring the waters off the coast of Crete in search of the missing, the Merchant Marine Ministry said.
The 49 evacuees had been on board the Ionian King, which docked late Saturday in the port of Souda after sailing from Tripoli with 1,288 evacuees from Libya, most of them Bangladeshi nationals.
The men used a rope to lower themselves from the Cypriot-flagged ship into the sea during the night, the ministry said, in an apparent attempt to avoid being sent home after arriving in Crete.
PTI
